MR. ROSS NORSWORTHY

 

SUMMARY:

 

Ross Norsworthy, founder and former president of Ross Engineering Company, has merged the company with L-3 Communications.  During his tenure with Ross Engineering, he served on various rulemaking committees in ITU and IEC, and he has been a major contributor to the work of RTCM and to the development of the standards for DSC and AIS.  

 

Ross is a graduate of the University of South Florida in Tampa, where he earned a BSEE and completed graduate studies in RF and Microwave Systems Engineering. He started his career in the marine electronics field with Sperry Microwave in 1968, where he helped design the world’s first automatic shipborne RF (10MHz – 18GHz) test equipment with embedded microcontrollers for the U.S. Navy. Since then, he has worked in both the avionics and marine electronics fields for Raytheon/E-Systems, Bendix and King Radio. In 1982, he started King Marine Electronics, and in 1986, he formed Ross Engineering Company, where he served as President for 16 years before the merger with L-3.

 

WORK EXPERIENCE:

 

1968-1974          Sperry Microwave Electronics Division, Clearwater, Florida

Senior Staff Engineer

RF and microwave electronics circuits and systems design for shipborne (aircraft carriers) automatic test of avionics systems from 10MHz to 18GHz. Special emphasis on RF communications systems, RF transmitters and receivers, frequency synthesizers, IFF/ATC radio transponders, and Radar systems.

 

1974-1978          E-Systems (Raytheon) ECI Division, St. Petersburg, Florida

Engineering Manager (Section Head, Microwave/Antenna Section)

RF and microwave electronic systems and antenna design for avionics and for shipborne (battleships) communications and guided missile control systems. Special emphasis on Radar, RF data communications, radio transponders and anti-jam antenna design.

 

1978-1982          Bendix Avionics Division, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida

Engineering Manager (Manager, CNI Engineering Section)

Avionics products and systems design for use in commercial aircraft (air transport and high-end general aviation). Special emphasis on Radar systems, RF communications transceivers, radio navigation systems, and radio transponders.

 

1982-1986          King Marine Electronics, Clearwater, Florida

Vice President and Technical Director

Marine electronics products for use on commercial and military ships including radio communications transceivers, LORAN and GPS receivers, and Radar. Responsible for design and development of products and for manufacturing in the company-owned offshore facility in Singapore.

 

1986-2002          Ross Engineering Company, Largo, Florida

Founder and President

Ross Engineering Company (ROSS) is a privately owned Type-C Florida corporation, engineering and manufacturing its products in its own facilities in Largo, Florida using high technology automatic techniques. ROSS was incorporated in 1977 and activated in 1986. The company specializes in the design and manufacture of communications and navigation systems (base, mobile and fixed equipment) with special emphasis on Digital Selective Calling (DSC), the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS), and the Automatic Identification System (AIS). The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) has awarded ROSS contracts in all three areas mentioned above. The ROSS DSC500 digital VHF transceiver is standard equipment for the USCG, the U.S. Army, the U.S. Navy and other organizations.

 

The AIS base station equipment and shipborne equipment currently in use by the U.S. Coast Guard was designed, manufactured, and installed by ROSS. The U.S. Coast Guard Ports And Waterway Safety System (PAWSS) uses this system, along with shipborne AIS transponders in the New Orleans Vessel Traffic Service (VTS). For this system, ROSS received the U.S. Department of Transportation CY2000 Honor Award. ROSS has also supplied similar systems to the USCG for the ports of Houston/Galveston, Seattle and New York. The Tampa Bay Harbor Safety Committee and the San Francisco Marine Exchange (both of which include the USCG as a partner) have operating AIS systems and shipborne AIS transponders supplied by ROSS.

 

Ross W. Norsworthy is an official delegate from the United States to five technical standards committees (see below), the ITU-R, the IEC, the IMO NAV, the IALA and the RTCM. These committees are responsible for writing and maintaining technical standards for communications, navigation, and AIS. Mr. Norsworthy personally drafted several of the technical proposals from the United States that were finally adopted as international standards for mandatory carriage under the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) international treaty. He is the only U.S. delegate to ITU-R WP8B, IEC TC80 and IMO NAV who is not an employee of the U.S. federal government. 

 

TECHNICAL STANDARDS COMMITTEE PARTICIPATION:

 

  • United States Delegate, Working Party 8B, International Telecommunications Union, Radio communications (ITU-R WP8B)
  • United States Technical Expert, Technical Working Group 8, International Electro technical Commission (IEC TC80 WG8)
  • United States Expert Industry Advisor, International Maritime Organization, Safety of Navigation Subcommittee (IMONAV)
  • United States Technical Expert, International Association of Lighthouse Authorities (IALA), Special Technical Committee on Automatic Identification Systems (IALA-STC-AIS)
  • Member of the Board of Directors, Radio Technical Commission for Maritime Services (RTCM)
  • Technical Advisor to the Working Party, Radio Technical Commission for Maritime Services (RTCM), 3 Committees:
    • Special Committee 101: “Digital Selective Calling and Automatic Identification Systems,”
    • Special Committee 117: “VHF Radiotelephone Equipment Operating in High Level Electromagnetic Environments,”
    • Special Committee 109: “Electronic Chart Display Systems”